Land Use & Environment Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Land Use & Environment Committee Information: 360.753.8244 Thursday, October 20, 2016 5:30 PM Council Chambers 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Hankins called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present: 2 - Chair Julie Hankins and Committee member Clark Gilman Excused: 1 - Committee member Nathaniel Jones OTHERS PRESENT Mayor Cheryl Selby City Manager Steve Hall Community Planning and Development: Director Keith Stahley Deputy Director Leonard Bauer Senior Planner Amy Buckler Senior Planner Linda Bentley Office Specialist/Minute Recorder Stacey Rodell Public Works: Transportation Director Mark Russell Transportation Engineering and Planning Manager Randy Wesselman Transportation Project Engineer II Dave Smith MAKERS Consultant Group John Owen 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4.A 16-1149 Approval of September 15, 2016 Land Use & Environment Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 5. COMMITTEE BUSINESS City of Olympia Page 1 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes October 20, 2016 Committee 5.A 16-0809 Concurrency/Transportation Impact Fee Update Mr. Wesselman and Mr. Smith presented an update on the annual concurrency report and transportation impact fees (TIF). Mr. Samdahl was on the conference phone and available for questions. Cities in Washington are required to build new transportation infrastructure “concurrent” with new development. Concurrency programs evaluate how much growth will come to a community and forecast street improvements needed to manage the new trips. They may include street widening and intersection improvements to lessen congestion. The City collects TIFs from new development to pay for these improvements. The City is currently evaluating a multimodal concurrency program to include improvements for walking, biking, and transit. With a multimodal concurrency program, the City could use impact fees to build improvements for walking, biking, and transit. Until the City adopts a multimodal concurrency program, the City will continue with its current system. The following were reviewed: · Projects completed with $17.8 Million of TIF · How TIF rates are established · Proposed changes for 2017 · TIF cost allocation process · Proposed Fees for 2017 · Proposed 2017 TIF rate schedule The information was received. 5.B 16-1127 Ordinance to Amend OMC 18.77, Application Content Lists and OMC 18.02.180, Definitions Ms. Bentley reviewed a proposed ordinance to amend Olympia Municipal Code (OMC) 18.77 - Application Content Lists and OMC 18.02.180 - Definitions. OMC 18.77 requires the City to keep “Application Content Lists” listing each type of development project permit application and specifying the content necessary for timely and orderly processing of each permit application. OMC 18.02.180 defines Application Content Lists as “That document entitled ‘City of Olympia Project Permit Application Content Lists’ approved and adopted by the City Council setting forth the required content for project permit applications to be ‘completed’ as that term is used in RCW 36.70B.080. In practice, the requirements in OMC 18.77 mean that every time a development permit application needs updating, City staff prepares a resolution for approval by City Council, changes the Content Lists, then puts the same information on customer application forms. This current process includes redundancies, requires extra staff time and delays use of the updated application by the public. City of Olympia Page 2 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes October 20, 2016 Committee The proposed draft ordinance provides for the City Council to delegate the updating of permit applications to staff. Each change to an application form would be approved by the signature of the Director of Community Planning and Development. This will ensure the Director’s approval of each change, as well as ensuring staff and customers are using the most current forms. Staff would be directed to continuously maintain the current forms in a convenient, available format (paper and/or electronic). Since this is a procedural amendment, neither a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) determination nor a public hearing is required. There are a number of permit application changes due by December 1, 2016, to implement the new Low Impact Development (LID) code. Additionally, there have been and will be more changes to permit applications to implement the City’s new SmartGov permitting software. Approval of this ordinance will allow for those and all future changes to permit application forms to be put in effect in a timely and efficient manner. The Committee unanimously recommended staff forward to City Council for adoption of the Ordinance amending OMC 18.77 and OMC 18.02.180. 5.C 16-1145 Downtown Strategy Update Ms. Buckler and Mr. Owen provided an overview of the Downtown Strategy progress to date. The public process to form Olympia’s Downtown Strategy (DTS) is in step 4 of 5. Over 3,500 people have engaged in workshops and online, and City staff has met with over 30 organizational groups to discuss this community effort. Major elements of the strategy include: · Urban design focus with recommended updates to design guidelines, streetscape, historic preservation and view protection · A housing strategy · Business (retail) enhancement strategy · Recommended tools to encourage private investment in line with community goals, including SEPA exemptions There will be an open house on October 29, 2016 at the Olympia Center where recommended actions for the next six years will be displayed and the public will be asked about their priorities (which they think should be completed first). Feedback will help shape the final draft of the Downtown Strategy Report, to be released later this year. The actions and timelines ultimately recommended in the Downtown Strategy Report will be based on what we understand to be public priorities, budget realities and strategic advantage. The Report will be the subject of final review steps by the Olympia Planning Commission (OPC) and City Council. The report was received. 6. REPORTS AND UPDATES Mr. Stahley reported the following: City of Olympia Page 3 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes October 20, 2016 Committee · Next Land Use and Environment Committee meeting will be on November 17, 2016: o Critical Areas Ordinance Phase II update o Provision of food and restrooms o Community Planning and Development work program update o Code amendments to implement the Comprehensive Plan 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:23 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4